Finding Home
by ladymars
Summary: Coda to a scene in "All In." Neal starts to feel at home for the first time after being released from jail.


Just a little coda based off of the panicked look on Neal's face when he finds out that there's a sequel to _Tiles of Fire._  


* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had been on the couch, but he knew that it had been too long. Why he had agreed to this, he still wasn't sure. He needed Mozzie's help, yes, but this was not how he had envisioned it going. He should have known that any time that Moz says "I've got the perfect thing for that," he should be heading for the border as fast as he can go.

But he hadn't run this time, hadn't even tried to run, and now he was stuck. Stuck in the hell that was his couch and a _Tiles of Fire_ marathon. Stuck between two people who were far too entertained by bad movies.

He wasn't quite sure where they were in the marathon. He had dosed off sometime in the second movie and now that he was awake again, it was clearly dark outside. They had to be on the third movie at very least and, with any luck, they were well into the fourth. Not that he'd be able to tell; they all looked the same to him. June had tried to explain the difference, but he couldn't follow. To him it was just another bad movie.

"Have a good nap?" Neal looked at Mozzie, who was smirking at him from his left, out of the corner of his eye. His friend was far too amused at the fact that he had dozed off in the middle of the afternoon.

"Yes, I did, after I managed to tune you out." June snickered from his right. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was some of the best sleep he had gotten all week. This was a big case – even if it wasn't his case directly – and the stress was affecting his normally peaceful sleep patterns.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that the princess needed sleep." June laughed again as Neal shoved Mozzie. There wasn't enough room on the couch for him to actually hit his friend, but he still needed to be punished for the crack.

"I can't help it that your droning knocks me out." June openly laughed this time. Mozzie narrowed his eyes at Neal and got a cheeky grin in return. "You asked for it."

"Doesn't mean you had to go there."

"Yes it does." Mozzie rolled his eyes and turned back to the movie. Neal shifted a little, trying to stretch so he wouldn't regret this marathon more than he all ready did. "So where are we?"

Mozzie lit up in excitement, their tiff forgotten. "Xiao has just gotten to the restaurant. He's there do defend his sister's honor."

June leaned over and continued. "She's been running drugs for the Boss and he didn't like that she was skimming off the top to help her family."

"Killed her," Mozzie added.

June nodded. "So now it's up to Xiao to resort his sister's honor and defend his family by beating the boss."

Neal looked between the two of them, half horrified, half confused. That sounded like the plot of the _other_ two movies they had watched. "Isn't that what happened in the other two?"

"Three," Mozzie replied. "You slept through the third one." Neal sighed in relief; only one whole movie left. "Which is a shame because that was the good one."

"Good one?" There was a good one of these?

"We need to go back so he can see it!" Neal's horror grew at June's excitement. He really didn't want to have to sit through another one of these.

"We should!" Mozzie was just as excited at the thought, if not more, which made Neal instantly regret opening his mouth.

"Can we at least get something to eat first?" He hoped that he sounded pathetic enough to convince them to give him a reprieve. These movies were getting ridiculous.

"Of course we can dear." June patted his arm sympathetically; Neal hoped that meant that she knew he just wanted a break. "Can't have you sleeping through three again."

Neal sighed and hunkered down into the couch again. He wasn't sure how long they had left on this movie, but the promise of food kept his hopes up. It was all he had to keep him sane while the drivel rolled on, the only thing to keep him awake until the end of the movie.

But, as much as he hated the movies, and hated the circumstances that brought him to be wedge between two enthusiastic B-movie fans, he couldn't help but enjoy himself a little. There were far worse ways to spend an afternoon that he could think of, especially when he was in the middle of the case. It was kind of nice to be able to fall asleep on the couch, sandwiched between the man he considered to be his best friend and the woman who was first person to trust him, at face value, since his arrest. Being there, with the two of them chattering about the intricacies of a bad series of movies, felt like home. It felt like home for the first time in a long time.

And it had only taken a very bad movie to get him there.


End file.
